160 MPH in the 78 Grand Am

[gto78]

That's quite a tire you have then! ~34" tall. I have ~28" on mine and I believe 80 is around 21-2200rpm.

It's been a long time, I was guessing the rpms. I do however remember the tires were 27" tall. We would run 26" slicks and I remember comparing the heights. If you say 80 is 2200 then it probably is, which is still very low for 80 mph. Those gears would be great for a diesel conversion........hmm thats an idea.

 

[gto78]

(big block Pontiac vs the small block 301 that used to be in the car)

Stop it or your membership to the tribe will be revoked and you will be requied to use engines that have distributors that spin the wrong way.

LOL, you know I've been building and racing Pontiacs for almost 20 years and noone's ever said anything to me when I call it a big block Pontiac, I didn't realize I was insulting the community. Of course my "building" is in my garage with low budget parts and noone else in town speaks Pontiac, so I haven't had any inside help. When I removed the little 301 that was in there I assumed it was considered a small block since the block was smaller and much lighter. I Learn something new every day.

 

[84GP455]

nope, In Pontiac's all the V8 engine blocks are the same outer size or dimension. That's why alot of the external parts are interchangeable.

 

[pontiacgp]

I thought anyone with experience on a Pontiac engine would know that they are intermediate blocks....the history of the Pontiac engines is interesting to read and some of the advanced technology Pontiac engine builders used in the engines back in the 55 to 59 is been advertised for a while like it's something new and innovative...reverse cooling..

 

[Phoenyx]

When I had y GP I stuck a 268h Comp cam for a Pontiac 350-455 into the stock 301. Worked fine.

 

[gto78]

I thought anyone with experience on a Pontiac engine would know that they are intermediate blocks....the history of the Pontiac engines is interesting to read and some of the advanced technology Pontiac engine builders used in the engines back in the 55 to 59 is been advertised for a while like it's something new and innovative...reverse cooling..

From what I always read in the past, and I just read again today, the 301 and 265 pontiac engines were a specially designed "short deck, thin walled block" that was like no other pontiac engine. It was also "...much lighter than the small block chevy" since the block was so thin, the deck height was shorter, and because it only had 2 counterbalance weights etc. The 265 and 301 also had to have a specially designed smaller intake manifold, because the block was shorter. This is from a pretty detailed write up on Wikipedia, not sure how accurate it is, but its the same as what I remember from when I had the 301 in there. When I had the 301 I was always pissed because the intake manifold wasn't interchangeable with any other pontiac engine, and there weren't any aftermarket ones. Being that I had such a big weight change and since the block physically looked smaller, that's why I've always called it a small block.

I've only built engines for myself and for my dad for the last 20 years, but I didn't make a career out of it. All I ever did was tear the engine down and rebuild it in the garage, and race on weekends. I read plenty of articles and stories about Pontiac in general, and always point out all the awesome "factory built in" features of the engines to friends who are Chevy guys. Things like the oil splash pan-stock, oil pan baffle-stock, 2.11 valves-stock, huge main bearings-stock, and all the other cool little things Pontiac builds their engines with that most other people have to buy aftermarket.

 

[pontiacgp]

in 1980 the 301 turbo came out and the block was not the thin walled they used in 78 and 79....the non turbo blocks in 80 and 81 were also not the thin walled block

 

[shotgun]

Boy we off on tangents, don't we? :lol:

Most of what is posted is true about the 301 Vs traditional Pontiac. The short version is the block is "basically" the same dimension wise, just shorter deck.

Intake is 265/301 only.

Tradional heads and 301 will interchange but would require a custom intake due to the deck hight making the valley wider or narrower.


I have built and raced both 301 and traditional. I am T1000 301 on this board, read away:

http://www.301garage.com/forum/index.ph ... 56#msg3256

Oil pans, timing covers,pullys, timing chains/gears/hardware, camshaft,lifters, rockers, studs,windage tray,oil pump, fuel pumps,most brackets and exhaust manifold can be exchanged.

gto78, I had a diehard chevy guy working for me that was almost pissed that the lowly 301 came from the factory with screw in studs!!

I talked to the tribal high council and they decided that you will not be banished. I told them you have much wisedom installing a proper engine in your car instead of a little orange one!

 

[Brick442]

The most I ever got my 85 442 up to was about 120 (that was after I installed engine #3, a Chevy 350 with a ton of top end, had a 1" inch carb spacer, victor jr intake, etc. still had the 3.73's)

Well, I pegged the 120 mph speedo (from an '87 442) and had to let up, not because of front end floating, but because the stock driveshaft starting vibrating like crazy at about 115. Scary.

 

[brian]

i had a 65 chevy truck with a 500 hp 377, i ran 11.96 @ 110 mph with it. One night coming home from a s----t race I wound it out on a open highway. It had 3.73 gears and would pull to 7000 rpm. My speedo said i was going 130 mph but i'm not sure, Anyways I came to a long narrow bridge and i couldn't keep it in one lane so i sailed down the middle then there was a curve right after the bridge and i ended up in the other lane braking as hard as i could and praying and sweating!!!!!! 65 chevy trucks aren't made to go that fast!!!! scared myself half to death.
brian